Greetings from Portland, Oregon. Below is an update on the area's newest travel-related developments. We hope you will find this information useful. If you prefer not to receive future media updates on Portland, you may unsubscribe here.

• What's New: Portland Saturday Market Moves to Waterfront
• LGBT Travel: Out in Portland Brochure Now Available
• Events: Shiver Me Timbers! It's the Portland Pirate Festival!
• Events: Oregon Manifest Introduces Five Weeks of Cycling Fun

July 18-19, the Portland Saturday Market will celebrate its move to a riverfront location in Gov. Tom McCall Waterfront Park. The market, the nation's largest continuously operating arts and craft market, has been a Portland tradition since 1974. Previously, its 350+ artist vendors occupied booth space under the west end of the Burnside Bridge in Portland's historic Old Town district. The market's new location, bordering the Willamette River, is part of a $10 million Waterfront Park improvement project. The project includes an 8,000-square-foot open-sided pavilion, a cantilevered deck overlooking the river and a circular plaza containing the new Bill Naito Legacy Fountain. The site design encourages interaction between the splash-friendly fountain (kids are welcome to jump in and get wet) and the market's artists, entertainers and food vendors.

The Portland Saturday Market is open every Saturday and Sunday, March through mid-December; and daily, Dec. 15-24 for holiday shopping during the Festival of the Last Minute. All items sold at the market are required to be handmade by the person selling them; artist-vendors are chosen via a juried selection process. The market, which is accessible via MAX light rail service, attracts more than 1 million visitors annually. For more information on the Portland Saturday Market, visit www.portlandsaturdaymarket.com.

Media Contact
Reid Decker, Portland Saturday Market
503.222.6072, ext. 11, reid@saturdaymarket.org

Travel Portland's new Out in Portland LGBT travel guide is now available. The 16-page, full-color brochure features interviews with local gay and lesbian residents, all of whom offer insights on their favorite places to eat, shop and play. Find out what master mixologist Lucy Brennan, owner of Mint/820 Restaurant and Lounge, likes to do when she isn't experimenting with new cocktail creations. Or, pick up a few kayaking tips from Kyle Sheeley, director of OutKayaking. Out in Portland, which is designed to complement the city's Travel Portland visitor magazine, also contains information on cool neighborhoods and selected LGBT events.

Out in Portland can be ordered or downloaded directly from Travel Portland's website, or by calling 877.678.5263. For more information on LGBT travel to Portland, visit www.travelportland.com/lgbt.

Media Contact
Deborah Wakefield, Travel Portland
503.275.9795, deborah@travelportland.com

Ahoy, mateys! The 4th Annual Portland Pirate Festival is set to take place, Sept. 19-20, in historic Cathedral Park. Set against the backdrop of the beautiful St. Johns Bridge, this year's event features the “Let's Pretend Pirate Adventure,” starring kids from the audience who dress up to perform alongside professional actors in high-energy shows; complimentary group fencing lessons; a cannon and flintlock battle between the notorious B.O.O.M. Pirates and The King's Navy; jugglers; storytellers; two stages of music, including performances by Captain Bogg and Salty and the B.O.O.M. Pirates; Tortuga Market, where craftspeople will demonstrate hands-on talent; a Grub 'n' Grog food area; games; and lots more. Saturday, Sept. 19, celebrates International Talk-Like-a-Pirate Day.

Discounted admission tickets ($10 for adults and $5 for youth age 3-12; children 2 and younger are complimentary) are available through July 20 at www.ticketsoregon.com. For more information on the Portland Pirate Festival, go to www.portlandpiratefestival.com.

Media Contact
Beth Blenz-Clucas, Portland Pirate Festival
503.293.9498, bethpr@msn.com

Portland's bike-crazy culture takes the spotlight this fall during Oregon Manifest's lineup of cycle-centric events, Oct. 2-Nov. 8. Designed to raise awareness for both Portland's bicycling amenities and America's overall cycling renaissance, Oregon Manifest (OM) is a nonprofit collective of creative and community experts. Its list of collaborators includes Portland-based Chris King Precision Components, a leading manufacturer of precision bicycle components; the City of Portland; Cross Crusade, the largest cyclocross race series in the nation; the Oregon Bicycle Constructors Association; the Single-speed Cross World Championships, a national riding event; Rapha, a leading producer of cycling clothes and accessories; and others.

Among the events scheduled is the Oregon Manifest Constructors' Design Challenge, a first-ever contest inviting America's finest custom bicycle frame builders to match wits, philosophies, problem-solving techniques and design approaches against their peers to create transportation-style bikes specifically for the Oregon Manifest Constructors' Race by Rapha (Oct. 3, 2009). The course for this race will take these beautiful bikes and their riders through a grueling 80-mile test. Riders will brave dirt, gravel, steep climbs and technical urban trials en route to the finish line. Twelve bicycles will be chosen from the Constructors' Race for design awards, and those top-notch design entries will be displayed for the next five weeks at the Oregon Manifest Pop-up Bike Union.

Oct. 31-Nov. 1, the 2009 Oregon Handmade Bicycle Show will take place at the Track Seven building in Northwest Portland's industrial district. This showcase event highlights some of the best bike-building talent in the country, as well as featuring many select bicycle industry businesses. On Saturday night (Oct. 31), the show will feature a Halloween costume party with food and beverages supplied by Hopworks Urban Brewery, Portland's first eco-brewpub to offer a full line of organic, handcrafted beers.

For a complete list of Oregon Manifest events, visit www.oregonmanifest.com.

Media Contact
Jocelyn SyCip, Oregon Manifest
503.956.4071, jocelyn@oregonmanifest.com